In a season unexpectedly full of quality family films, Arthur Christmas may have to fight for the attention it deserves, but if there was ever an example of a film that's a crowd-pleaser without talking down to its audience, this is it.

There are things you just wouldn't see in a Pixar or Disney movie. For example, one of the main elves has an eyebrow piercing, uncommented on. Even more than that: two of the boy elves kiss... each other. It's progressive.